A vehicle “consist” is a group of vehicles that are linked together to move together along a route. A common example is a train or other group of rail vehicles. Certain vehicle consists (e.g., a train comprising plural locomotives and plural freight cars or other railcars) utilize distributed power operations for improved control and handling of the vehicle consist. In the case of a train, for example, distributed power control involves one locomotive (e.g., a lead locomotive) transmitting commands to other locomotives (e.g., remote locomotives) in the train. The commands relate to throttle, braking, or other traction control-related operations. The remote or other locomotives receive the commands and respond thereto, effectuating a controlled and coordinated traction effort for the train as a whole.
Distributed power may involve wire-line communications (e.g., a cable extending between vehicles in a consist), wireless communications (referred to as “radio distributed power”), or both. In the case of wireless communications, each vehicle in a consist is outfitted with a receiver or transceiver for receiving and/or transmitting messages, or for otherwise communicating between vehicles. For distributed power, off-vehicle distributed power message repeaters are sometimes used to bolster a consist's on-board capability. That is, there may be times when a lead or other vehicle in a consist is unable to reliably wirelessly communicate with other vehicles in the consist, due to geographic features or otherwise. It may also be desirable to bolster a consist's on-board transmission capability, even if communications are not totally compromised, to improve communications reliability, for safety purposes, or the like.
Distributed power message repeaters are sometimes installed in very isolated and inaccessible locations. A failure of a message repeater can go undetected for a long period of time and may only become apparent when a radio distributed power train (or other vehicle consist) transiting the area is no longer able to access it. This can result in the train stalling or otherwise blocking that area of the line.